


Dave and Rose: Watch your partners die, but don't worry they're fine

by Toxictimefanfics



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Dreams, Dreams and Nightmares, Dreams vs. Reality, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Canon, Post-Sburb (Homestuck), Post-Sburb/Sgrub, Secret Santa, Talking, Temporary Character Death, originally written for a secret santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:07:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22389157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toxictimefanfics/pseuds/Toxictimefanfics
Summary: This was originally written for a Secret Santa! I just totally forgot to post it until now!
Relationships: Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas, Rose Lalonde/Kanaya Maryam
Comments: 2
Kudos: 50





	Dave and Rose: Watch your partners die, but don't worry they're fine

Rose sits bolt upright in bed, awoken from yet another of her many nightmares. Beside her lies Kanaya, asleep and dead to the world. That's something Rose has learned to appreciate about her, the ability to sleep through her nightmares, but that means she can't help Rose through hers.

She shifts awkwardly, remembering what happened in the dream, Kanaya, dead, jade green blood covering her neck and chest, pooling around her abdomen face filled with grief. Green tinted tears, still fresh rolling down her face. Although Rose doesn't remember this happening, she knows it's right before Kanaya became a Rainbow Drinker.

Why Rose sees this in her nightmare, she doesn't know, but she knows it's upset her quite a bit. Tears welling in her eyes, she finally finds the resolve to get out of bed and goes downstairs to the kitchen.

Living in a house with all the other survivors of the game, it's rare to be alone, even at night, so Rose isn't even remotely surprised when she finds Dave sitting in the kitchen.

"Nice to see I'm not the only one who's awake this late." She says, making Dave jump.

"Hey." He replies, easily sliding right back into his "cool guy" persona.

"Don't do that."

"What?" 

"Pretend like you're okay, there must be a reason you're down here, spill."

"Fine, but after you have to tell me what's up with you."

"That's fair."

"It's… I had a nightmare. About Karkat."

"Elaborate."

"I had a nightmare where he died. It looked so real, I'm almost sure it actually happened in one of the doomed timelines, but God was it terrifying."

"Do you want to tell me what happened?"

"He was going after that fucking clown troll with Kanaya, but he ran ahead of her and got to the clown first. When he actually got to the guy he gets stabbed in the chest, through the circles of the symbol on his sweater with Terezi's cane, then he gets dropped into lava." He says, voice trembling with every word.

"Oh, that sounds awful." Rose replies, her voice hushed in what she hopes is a comforting tone.

"The look on his face is what got me the most was the look of shock on his face, it was like he really didn't expect it to happen. It was gut wrenching to look at." He continues, starting to cry, but it's hidden behind his ever present shades.

"Dave, look at me." Rose says, hoping it doesn't sound too forceful.

He does, choking on his breath between his sobs.

"Let's go to the living room, I'd like to be more comfortable if we're going to do the whole feelings thing." She says, gently grabbing him by the shoulders and steering him to the living room. 

Once they make it, she leads him to the couch and gently pushes him down, all the while he's still a wreck, tears streaming freely down his face.

"I'm really sorry you had to go through that Dave but I need to tell you something. That was actually Karkat dying in one of the doomed timelines." She tries to tell him gently, but how is something like that ever going to be gentle?

"What?! How do you know that?"

"How do you think I know that."

"Right, of course, you know everything."

"Regardless, I'm so sorry Dave, that must have been really hard to see."

"Yeah… yeah it was but, uh, I know he's alright, but I can't stand seeing him like that." He mutters, taking off his shades to scrub at his eyes and leaving them off, he might as well if he's going to keep crying.

"Dave, look at me, please." He does, even if it's hesitant. "Breathe, you're hyperventilating." And holy shit, he is, he hadn't even noticed how hard he was breathing. "Follow my breathing." She tells him, breathing slowly and deliberately. "Good, now I'm going to get you some water, focus on your breathing, I'll be back in a minute." She gets up, walking the few feet to the kitchen and doing exactly what she said she would.

When she presents him the glass, he grabs it and gulps it all down, far quicker than he should've, throwing him into a coughing fit.

"That was dumb and you know it." Rose jokes.

"Shut up, I know." Dave replies, finally getting his breathing under control.

"You doing alright?"

"Yeah… thanks for listening to me. What was your nightmare about? It's only fair that I listen to your bullshit, since you listened to mine."

"Well… it was Kanaya-"

"Of course."

"Shush, anyway, it was Kayaya, the violet blooded troll, the fuschia blooded troll, and the gold blooded troll. Violet seemed overly upset about something, he starts attacking gold, knocking him out, when fuschia tries to step in, violet kills her. Violet turns his attention to the Matriorb, the egg Kanaya kept with her, shooting it and making it explode. Enraged, she goes after him with her chainsaw… but before she's able to get to him, he blasts her in the abdomen, seemingly killing her." Rose says, her voice ragged.

"Jesus Christ." Dave breathes out, he really wasn't expecting all of that.

"But I've heard that story, Kanaya's told me about it before she became a Rainbow Drinker, or a vampire. She's told me about it so many times. I just didn't expect it to be that horrifying, you know?"

"Right."

"Regardless, thank you for listening to me. I should be able to deal with this a lot better since it's a story I've heard before, but it was only fair I told you what was troubling me." Rose smiles, tearing up a little, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

"Hey, just because you've heard it before doesn't mean that what your going through is any less difficult." Dave says, taking his turn to be the "mature" one in the situation. He gestures for her to scoot closer, when she does he engulfs her in a tight hug. "Our nightmares were equally terrifying in their own right, you shouldn't put yourself down just because you've heard Kanaya talk about it before." 

"I… that was pretty deep Dave."

"I can be deep when I need to Rose."

"Evidently."

They fall asleep like that, locked in each other's arms, purely platonic and therapeutic cuddling on both ends.

"Rose?" Kanaya calls from the bottom of the stairs, she has no idea when she left, she sleeps so soundly that it's difficult to tell when her Matesprit is having a hard time. She walks into the living room and finds Dave and Rose, asleep on the couch. It's truly a sight to see, a cute one at that. She nudges at Rose in an attempt to wake her.

Not only does it work, it gains a result she wasn't quite expecting. Once Rose figures out that it's Kanaya who's trying to wake her, she launches herself away from Dave and towards Kanaya, latching her arms around her neck.

"While I'm not opposed to a hug I'm inclined to ask why it's happening so suddenly." Kanaya says, her voice low since Dave's somehow still asleep.

"I had a nightmare where you died Kan." Rose replies, keeping her voice just as low.

"Oh, I'm sorry I wasn't able to be there for you when you needed me. Would you like to tell me what happened?"

"It wasn't anything I haven't heard before, it was right before you became a Rainbow Drinker. It really is a shame what happened to the fuschia blooded girl, she seemed nice."

"She was very nice, I do miss her sometimes."

"What was her name?"

"Feferi, Feferi Peixes."

"And the gold blood that got knocked out?"

"Sollux Captor."

"Was he alright after that?"

"He was blinded, had some teeth knocked out, but he survived."

"That's good. I think I talked to the violet blood on pesterchum once, he was a prick."

Kanaya chuckles a bit at the accurate description of her former friend… who she murdered.

"He was, Eridan Ampora was his name. I think you'll be happy to know that I personally put an end to his life later."

"Oh yeah? And how did you do that?"

"I cut his legs off."

"Brutal."

"Well yes, he did murder Feferi, blind Sollux, and nearly kill me, all while Karkat was watching."

"That must've been terrifying."

"Oh I'm sure it was."

"Speaking of Karkat, Dave had a nightmare about him."

"Ah I see, that's why you're both down here."

"Yes it is.”

"We should probably move so we don't wake him."

"Agreed."

The two of them stand, leaving Dave alone on the couch.

A few minutes later, after being promoted by Kanaya, Karkat finds Dave still asleep on the couch.

"Oh gogdammit Dave." Karkat mutters, moving Dave into a more comfortable position, sitting down next to him and pulling him down so his head rested in Karkat's lap.

They sit like that for a while, Karkat just being content being close to Dave. 

Eventually though, Dave wakes up and wraps his arms around Karkat's waist, squishing him lightly.

"Oh, you're up, why were you sleeping down here?" Karkat asks, looking down to where Dave is latched to his waist.

"Had a nightmare." Dave mumbles into Karkat's sweater.

"And you didn't wake me up, why the actual butt munching fuck did you not wake me up?!"

"You know how fucking hard it is to get you to wake up dude, you sleep like a brick."

"It's not my fault, literally everyone in my species is a heavy sleeper and you know that."

"Dude, even Terezi's easier to wake up compared to you."

"That's not true, she's a nightmare to wake up!"

"I'm just messing with you dude."

"So, are you going to tell me about your nightmare or are you going to keep me in suspense?"

"Oh… well."

"Come on, you know I'm here for you."

"You… you died, Rose thinks it might've been from one of the doomed timelines?"

"Oh, uh, can you tell me what happened?" Karkat mumbles, suddenly scared of what's to come, not having fully come to terms with all of his various deaths.

"Sure, it's just... difficult to see you like that."

"Take your time, I'll be here." Karkat rubs comforting circles into Dave's back, trying to help him calm down.

"Okay, so I think it happened when I was with Jade, fighting those black and white winged dog things, they both stabbed me straight through me with their swords but that's besides the point. What I saw was you and Kanaya running toward that one clown troll guy-" 

"Gamzee." Karkat interrupts, then immediately goes rigid and looks sheepish. "Sorry, just felt like you might want to know his name."

"It's alright, well, you somehow outran Kanaya and jumped towards Gamzee, he caught you and used Terezi's cane and stabbed you twice, right through the symbol on your sweater." Dave pauses to reach up and poke Karkat square in the chest, making him flinch. "Then he dropped you into lava. God, the look on your face was downright sad to look at, you looked so betrayed. I just don't know what has me so locked up about it, it's not like you didn't make it out, you survived the game, you're here with me, just… seeing you like that, it hurts Karkat. Sure it was probably one of the doomed timelines but it still hurt to see." Dave says quietly, hugging Karkat a little tighter.

"I… well yeah that definitely happened and, you know I'm literally the worst when it comes to trying to comfort people but, I can say, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, I'll be here whenever you need me, and even if you don't need me, I'll still be here." Karkat says softly, running his fingers through Dave's hair.

"That's sappy as fuck Karkles, but it's pretty reassuring to know you'll be with me through thick and thin, you've always got my back dude, I love you." They both froze, sure they knew deep down that they loved each other, but neither of them had actually said it.

"I… I love you too." Karkat says eventually, after a bit of silence.

They sit there for a while, being content just sitting with each other, neither of them talking, just thinking. 

After a bit, Dave sits up and kisses Karkat's cheek, causing the troll in question to turn bright red in response.

"Awe come on Karkat, you know we've done worse!" Dave says through his laughter.

"Yeah, but that wasn't immediately after you said you love me!" Karkat yells, trying to cover his face.

"Yeah, let's go back to bed, it's still pretty early."

"It's one in the afternoon dipshit!"

"Like I said, it's early."

"You're unbelievable."

"But you love me."

"Sometimes I wish I didn't."

"That's a blatant lie you little shit!" Dave laughs, eventually getting Karkat to laugh with him.

"Regardless, if you want to go back to bed, I'll go with you." Karkat says once he's done laughing.

"Kinky." Dave replies with a smirk.

"Oh shut up." Karkat says while playfully putting a hand over Dave's mouth, who immediately sticks his tongue out and licks Karkat's hand.

"Gross! Never fucking do that again!" Karkat yells, the volume of his voice increasing throughout the sentence.

"Only for you Karkles." Dave replies with a smirk.

"Hey Karkat, can you keep it down? Some of us are still sleeping up here!" A tired sounding John calls from the top of the stairs.

"Yeah Karkat, quiet down!" Dave says with a grin.

"Oh shut up, let's go back upstairs." 

They do just that, they go back upstairs to their shared room and eventually get back to a peaceful sleep, safe in one another's arms. Kanaya and Rose had a similar idea as they're currently in their own room, cuddling like their lives depended on it.

Maybe today won't be so bad after all?


End file.
